Yarn Review: DROPS Eskimo

 DROPS Eskimo by Garnstudio

Composition: 100% pure new wool.

Yardage: 50 gr/ 50 m .

Weight: Super bulky.

Characteristic: The yarn is very loosely spun and it isn´t plied, so it tends to pill and shed. Atlhough the manufacturer sells it as a "super bulky" yarn, I wouldn´t recommend to knit it so for sweaters and other garments with "friction-hazard".

Here you can see Eskimo knitted on 12 mm needles:

It´s worn only a few times and you can surely notice the shabby look.

On the other hand, the bulkiness of the yarn offers a chance to play with structure in  a "non-friction" garments (scarfs, shawls, cowls, etc.)...:

I hold the yarn doubled.

... or to take the advantage of the softness and a slight shine of the yarn in plain stockinnete:

In my opinion, the best result with Eskimo you get when using needles 5 mm. The fabric is very dense, soft, warm and the yarn has a wonderful stitch definition (Great for cables! And super easy for cabling without a cable needle! :-) ): 

 

Tip for minimising shedding: Put yarn (or finished garment if you don´t mind possible light shrinking) in a very hot (almost boiling) water. It might sounds crazy (Won´t it totally shrink? Won´t it felt?!), but it really works!  I did it with my winter scarf and I was trully amazed. Of course,  the scarf still sheds a bit, but it is much much better!

Pros:

• soft, non-scratching, non-itching.
• dense, soft and warm fabric with great stitch definition when knitted on 5 mm needles.
• comes in many colours.

Cons:

• sheds and pills.
• isn´t suitable for knitting garments with friction-hazard on large needles (8 mm and more).